Taken
3 (2014/Uncut & Regular/Fox Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B
Taken
3 was just going to happen. There was no doubt about it.
The
good news is that it's a pretty entertaining thrill ride with high
production value, impressive stunt pieces, and of course Liam Neeson
being a badass. After the slight disappointment that was Taken 2,
this film surprised me with being more akin to The Fugitive in
terms of plot and even the recent Tom Cruise film Jack Reacher.
The cast and acting in this is great, the only drawback to it is
some predictable plot points and action sequences where the stunt
doubles are a little too obviously cut in. Produced by master
filmmaker Luc Beeson, Taken 3 is a January-released film
(which is considered the worst month to release a movie) that maybe
is slightly better than it should be.
In
Oliver Megaton's Taken 3, ex-government operative Bryan Mills
(Neeson) has it all: a beautiful daughter named Kim (Maggie Grace),
who has just found out that she is pregnant, and a life that seems to
have finally freed him of violence. Of course, that doesn't last for
long when Bryan finds himself falsely accused of the murder of his
lovely wife Lenore (played by Jean Grey herself - Famke Janssen) that
leaves him crush and angry. As he's pursued by a savvy police
inspector (played by Forest Whitaker) and an army of Cops hot on his
trail, Mills employs his particular set of skills and enlists some of
his highly trained friends, to help him track down the real killer
and exact his unique brand of justice.
Shot
on film with a variety of different 35mm cameras, Taken 3
boasts a pretty breathtaking transfer with a crisp 1080p HD transfer
that is highly detailed making it so clear that you can see the pores
on the actor's faces. The widescreen aspect ratio is in 2.39:1,
which is my favorite of all aspect ratios. Accompanying that is a
high quality, lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 track that
maximizes your home stereo system. French and Spanish tracks in
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 are also included.
Extras
include Deleted Scenes, Sam's Bunker AKA The Rabbit Hole, Taken to
LA, Gallery and of course the Unrated version of the film, which
is slightly longer than the theatrical version that you can pick
between.
All
in all, I found Taken 3 to be a pretty fun ending to the
trilogy. It definitely feels more original than Taken 2 and
though some moments are silly, it just maintains its mission's
objective.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
